Caisson and means and method of sinking the same



Oct. 4, 1932. M. -BIUMENTHAL CAISSON AND MEANS AND METHOD OF`SINKING THESAME Filed oct. s, 192s Patented Oct. 4, 1932 UNITED STATES MAURICEBLUMENTHAL, F BROOKLYN, -NEW YORK CAISSON AND MEANS AND METHOD OFS[1\TIK1|1\TC11F` THE SAME Application led October 3, 1928. Serial No.309,916.

This invention relates to an improvement in caissons and to improvedmeans and method by which to sink the same, and an object of theinvention is to provide a caisson which will be strong and substantial,and which may be readily sunk into the earth, which may be easily cutoff at its lower end after sinking so as to conform tothe surfacecontour of a rock bed or the like upon which it is intended to t@ rest,which will include means serving both to re-inforce its wall parts andto support a desired number of power hammers bywhich to drive it, whichmay be driven by blows struck at or near its lower end, which will lfinclude means to facilitate the striking of blows thereagainst at otherpoints for assisting in sinking the caisson, and which will includeseparated channels or compartments through which loosened earth at thelower end of the caisson may be blown upwardly and outwardly from thecaisson by means of compressed air in the usual manner.

A further object is to provide means for sinking the caisson, includinga plurality of horizontal cross bars arranged interiorly of the caissonand a plurality of power hammers also interiorly of the caisson restingupon the cross bars being preferably adjustable to dif` ferent positionsalong the cross bars so that the driving force of the hammers may beimparted to the caisson at selected points as may be required tocounteract different shades of earth resistance at diiferent pointssurroundn ing the caisson, together with other power 'd hammers foradjustably engaging other c ross bars to assist in driving the'caissonand serv'- ing to impart a desired vibratory movement of the body of thecaisson at different points preferably above the first hammers thereby Oto further assist the driving action of the first hammers.

A further object is to provide a new and improved method for the sinkingof caissons according to which the compression strains 'f upon the sidewalls of the caisson incident to the hammer blows struck the caisson inthe sinking thereof are practically eliminated, according to which alsocaissons made of relatively lighter material than heretofore may on thisaccount be used for the support of a given load, and according to whichthe caisson will be pulled downwardly into the earth by force applied'toits lower end, the relatively upper portions of the caisson beingmeanwhile vibrated in predetermined amount and at selected points as maybe desired to reduce skin friction between the caisson and thesurrounding earth during the sinking operation.

Other objects and aims of the invention, more or less specific thanthose referred to above, will be in part obvious and in part pointed outin the course of the following description of the elements,combinations, arrangements of parts and applications of principlesconstituting the invention; and the scope of protection contemplatedwill be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing which is to be taken as a part of thisspecification, and in which I have shown merely a preferred form ofembodiment of the invention Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional view of acaisson constructed in accordance with this invention, the same beingshown in process of being sunken into the earth by the means andaccording to the method proposed by this invention, and

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken upon the plane of line ll--Hof Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing for describing in detail the arrangement asillustrated therein, the caisson L is shown as being rectangular inhorizontal section and as consisting of a front wall 1, a rear wall 2and opposite end walls 3 and li.

lt will be understood of course that the caisson may be of any crosssectional shape and proportions as ma be desired.

The height of the calsson is likewise indefinite since this will alsovary with different requirements. In some instances the height may bemade up of a plurality of superposed sections as 5, 6 and 7 connectedtogether, usually by welded joints as indicated at 8--8, this being theusual arrangement where the lfieight is required to be more than six oreight eet.

It will be understood that the caisson is constructed preferably ofsheet metal which is of a thickness commensurate with'the size titi V Orif and the ends of the cross bars be welded.

face of the cross bars, their pendant portions of the caisson and thepressures etc. to be encountered in diierent instances.

Within the caisson, adjacent the lower end thereof, is arranged aplurality of cross bars as 9-9 adapted to support the power hammers G-G.These cross bars may be connected with the opposite walls of the caisson1n any appropriate manner, either permanently or detachably. In theinstance illustrated three such cross bars are shown spaced insubstantially parallel relation to each other along the length of thecaisson, that is between the opposite end walls 3 and 4, the ends ofsaid cross bars being connected to the front and rear walls 1 and 2.

Pocket forming parts as 10-10are illustrated fixed to the walls 1 and 2for receiving the ends of the cross bars. The cross bars may restremovably within these pockets or they ma be rigidly fixed within saidpockets. esired the pockets may be omitted directl to the metal of thecaisson walls, this being 1n fact the preferable arrangement.

The hammers G rest upon the upper suras 11-11 straddling opposite sidesof the cross bars to prevent displacement in the usual manner. Thehammers are capable of being readily moved to any point longitudinallyof -thelr supporting bars. l

More than a single hammer may be placed upon a selected bar, or one ormore of the bars may be left without ahammer, this according to therequirements met in the sinking of any caisson, it being understood-that the hammers may be shifted around as indicated to impart more orless driving force at an selected point about the caisson to insure t econtinuance of a straight line downward movement of the caisson, duringthe sinking operation.

Suitable carrying lines as 12-912, and air hose as 13--13 will of courseextend from the hammers upwardly through the upper end of the caisson.

During the driving operation a suitable number of men may be atfyvork inthe lower end of the caisson cutting away the earth in the area definedby the caisson walls to -facilitate the downward movement of saidchannels or compartments as 15-15 extendin vertically of the caissoneach being of su ciently small size to enable the practical .priatepoints in the upper -not only assist the upper use of air pressure todischarge the loosened earth upwardly therethrough.

When these partitions are used they are preferably fixed permanently tothe opposite walls of the caisson, either by welding or otherwise, butif desired they may be removably held between bracket members as 16--16,but in any event they may be relied upon as eiiicient re-inforcingelements for assisting in preventing collapse of the side walls of thecaissono during the sinking operation.

In order to facilitate the easy downward movement of the caisson intothe earth, particularly in instances where the vertical height of thecaisson is excessive, it may be desirable to utilize one or moreauxiliary power hammers as H-H placed at approportion of the caisson so`that their hammering action will ortions of the caisson downwardly butwill lmpart a certain desired amount of vibratory motion to the sidewalls of the caisson, at selected points, to el'ect a material reductionin the skin friction between the caisson and the surrounding earth.

These auxiliary hammers may be the same size and power as the maindrlving or pulling hammers G and they ma be supported by cross barsidentical 1n al respects with those described with respect to thehammers G. The hammers H are preferably however somewhat smaller thanthe hammers G, and their supporting cross bars as 17-17' may be corresondingl smaller.

Poc et forming brackets as 18, corresponding with the brackets 10, ma beplaced at any number of different loca ities throughout the height ofthe caisson and cross bars 17 may be rested in any selected air thereof,according as it may be desire to apply hammer blows in differentlocalities during the sinking operation.

The brackets 18 may be omitted if preferred and the cross bars 17 beattached permanently, as by welding or otherwise in selected ositions.

Whi e the hammers G and H are usually intended to be operated in theirnormal vertical positions it is to be noted that the supporting meansfor said hammers is of a character such that'whenever desired one ormore of thev hammers may'be tipped over into an inclined position, asindicated for one of the hammers H in Fig. 1, this being desirable insome cases to insure an excessive vibratory movement of a given wallpart v of the caisson.

After a caisson has been sunk to a desired depth the hammers may allreadily be lifted out and the inside of the caisson filled with concreteaccording to the usual practice. One or more of the the hammers may beretained if desired during the pouring in of this con- Iii crete saidhammer or hammers being placed at selected points in the height of thecaisson, in the same manner as above mentioned, and utilized to impartsuch blows to the caisson as will serve to vibrate the caisson and themass of concrete thus causing the concrete to become more compact thanwould otherwise be the case. The hammers used for this purpose may beadvanced step by step upwardly to different localities as the level ofthe concrete rises.

In sinking a caisson to bed rock it is desirable that the lower edge ofthe caisson should have direct Contact with the rock throughoutpractically the entire extent of said lower edge if possible. Accordingto the present invention, if the surface of the rock does not conform tothe original contour of the lower edge of the caisson the lower edgeportion of the caisson being of sheet metal may be cut olf, as by meansof an acetylene torch so as to mate exactly the surface contour of therock.

It will be seen that according to the invention as above described thesinking of the caisson will be accomplished primarily by a force appliedat the lower end of the caisson effective to pull the upper portionsdownwardly through the earth, and that the point of application of thisforce is adjustable. The natural result of a pulling force, asdi'stinguished from a pushing force, is to insure a relativelystraighter path of movement of the body to which the force is applied,and by adjusting the point of application of the pulling force as hereinthe path of movement of the body may be very accurately determined atall times. This is an extremely important consideration in the presentinvention in that it insures accurate straight line downward movement ofthe caisson.

Furthermore by applying the sinking force at the lower end of thecaisson the application of vertical crushing strains upon the materialof the caisson is eliminated, being supplanted by tensile strains whichare much more easily contended with and which require considerably lessbody of lnaterial to withstand them. Even the tensile strains may belargely eliminated by the use of the auxiliary hammers suggested.

The noise of the operating hammers is deadened because of being confinedwithin the interior of the caisson at all times.

The successive sections 6 7 etc. may be added to the caisson, by weldedoi nt or otherwise, after the preceding section or sections have beensunk. With the driving hammers operating within the caisson rather thanagainst its inner surface or edge, these sections maybe put in place,and in some instances even welded tight while the driving hammerscontinue their work without interruption.

The improved method herein set forth accordingly comprehends theapplication of a pulling force applied to the caisson at a point orpoints spaced from the upper end of the caisson effective to move thelower end of the caisson into the earth and pulling the remainder of thecaisson with it. Also the auxiliary application of force to the portionof the caisson above the point of application of the main force. Andalso the application of a vibratory motion to the caisson walls toreduce skin friction between the exterior of said walls and thesurrounding earth during the sinking of the caisson.

As many changes could be made in this construction without departingfrom the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims, itis intended that all matter contained in the above description, or shownin the accompanying drawing, shall be interpreted as illustrative onlyand not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is l. A caisson adapted to be sunk into theearth, said caisson comprising the usual confining wall members, and across bar arranged within the caisson adjacent the lower end thereofhaving its opposite ends in cngagement with opposite walls ofthecaisson, said bar being of a character to support a power hammerwithin the caisson and to receive and transmit to the walls of thecaisson the blows of said hammer to thereby sink the caisson.

2. A caisson adapted to be sunk into the earth, said caisson comprisingthe usual conining wall members, a cross bar arranged within the caissonadjacent the lower end thereof having its opposite ends in engagementwith opposite Walls ofthe caisson said bar being of a character tosupport a power hammer within the caisson and to receive and transmit tothe walls of the caisson the .blows of said hammer to thereby sink thecaisson, and said bar being of a length to permit adjustment of the.hammer to different positions along the length of the bar.

3. A caisson adapted to be sunk into the earth, said caisson comprisingthe usual confining wall members, and means arrangedl within the caissonadjacent the lower end thereof of a character to support a plurality ofpower hammers at different points within the caisson and to receive andtransmit to the walls of the caisson the blows of said hammers tothereby sink the caisson.

4. A caisson adapted to be sunk into the earth, said caisson comprisingthe usual confining wall members, and a plurality of cross bars arrangedwithin the caisson spaced apart adjacent the lower end thereof each ofsaid l cross bars having their opposite ends in engagement with oppositeWalls of the-caisson said bars each being of a character-to support apower hammer within the caisson and to receive and transmit to thecaisson the blows of said hammer to thereby sink the caisson, and eachof said bars being of a leno'th to permit adjustment of its hammer todifferent positions along the length of the respective bar.

5. A caisson adapted to-be sunk into the earth, said caisson comprisingthe usual conning wall members, and a plurality of cross bars arrangedwithin the caisson of a character each to support a power hammer withinthe caisson and to receive and transmit to the wallsof the caisson theblows of said hammers to thereby sink the caisson.

6. A caisson adapted to be sunk into the earth, said caisson comprisingthe usual conining wall members, a cross bar arranged within thecaisson, means by which the cross bar is connected with the caisson, thecross bar being of a character to support a power lhammer within thecaisson and to receive the blows of the hammer, the connection betweenthe `cross bar and the caisson being of a, character to transmit thehammer blows to the caisson, and said connections being also of acharacter to permit removal of the cross bar.

7. A caisson adapted to be sunk into the earth, said caisson comprisingthe usual conining wall members, and being open at its lower end to giveaccess for removal of earth from beneath said lower end, and partitionsLdividing the interior of the caisson into a plurality of separatechannels extending vertically of the caisson and open at their upper andlower ends, each of said channels being of such size transversely thatwhen compressed air is admitted into the material to be discharged fromthe bottom of the channel said material will be discharged upwardly ontof the upper end of the channel by theaction of said compressed air.

8. The combination with a tubular mem? ber intended to be sunk into theearth, of means arranged within thehollow of said tubular memberadjacent the lower end thereof and being in engagement with said memberof a character to strike blows against said lower end tending to drawthe member downwardly into the earth, together with an independentlyoperable power hammer arranged to strike in rapid succession against thewall of the tubular member' at a point spaced above the first mentionedmeans to thereby produce vibration of the tubular member to thus assistthe first mentioned means.

9. The combination with a tubular member intended to be sunk into theearth, of means arranged within the hollow of said tubular memberadjacent the lower end thereof and being in engagement with said memberof a character to apply force to said lower end tending to draw themember downwardly into the earth, together with a vibratory device, andsaid tubular member having a plurality of prepared localities thereonspaced above said force applying means selectively usable to receivesaid vibratory device whereby said vibratory device may be applied forvibrating the wall of said tubular member at any one of a plurality ofselected localities spaced above said force applying means.

10. In combination, a caisson intended to be sunk into the earth andbeing open at its upper and lower ends so that earth removed at thelower end may be passed out of the 11pperl end, hammer means within thecaisson adjacent the lower end thereof in engagement with the walls ofthe caisson of a character to strike blows against said lower endtending to draw the caisson downwardly into the earth and vibratingmeans engaging the walls of the caisson at alocality above said hammermeans operable to cause vibration of the walls of the caissoncontinuously during the period while blows are being struck by saidhammer means, to cause vibration of the walls of the caissoncontinuously during the period while blows are being struck b saidhammer means.

1l. The herein described method of sinking into the earth an open endedcaisson, which method consists in excavating earth at the lower end ofthe caisson and passing it upwardly out of the upper end of the caisson,meanwhile applying force against the lower end portion of the caissontending to draw the caisson downwardly into the earth, and at the sametime operating a power hammer to strike blows in rapid successionagainst the wall of the caisson at a locality above the lower end of thecaisson' to thereby produce vibration of said Wall.

12. A caisson adapted to be sunk into the earth, said caisson comprisingthe usual conning wall members, and means extending transversely acrossthe caisson of a character to support a plurality of power hammers atdifferent points withinithe caisson and to receive andtransmit to thewalls of the caisson the blows of said hammers to thereby sink thecalsson.

13. A caisson adapted to be spunk into the earth, said caisson beingopen at its upper and lower ends to give access' for the removal ofearth beneath the lower end and discharge thereof out of the upper end,means extending transversely across the caisson of a character tosupport a plurality of power hammers at different points within thecaisson @and to receive and to transmit to the wallswof v the caissonthe blows of said hammers 'to' y thereby sink the caisson, partitionsdividing j ing into the earth an open ended caisson, which methodconsists in forming the interior of the caisson wit-h a plurality ofseparate channels extending vertically of the height of the caisson eachof a size adapted for the discharge of earth upwardly therethrough bycompressed air, and then discharging earth upwardly through saidchannels independently by compressed air.

15. The herein described method of sinking into the earth an open endedcaisson, which method consists in dividing the interior of the caissoninto a plurality of separate vertically extending channels each of suchsize that when compressed air is admitted into material to be dischargedfrom the bottom of the channel said material will be discharged upwardlyout of the upper end of the channel by the action of the compressedair,`making` the earth at the lower end of the caisson to be of aconsistency suitable for being discharged through said channels bycompressed air, and then introducing air pressure into the earth withinselected ones of said channels and thereby discharging earth upwardlythrough said selected channels by said compressed air.

16. A caisson adapted to be sunk into the earth, said caisson comprisingthe usual contining wall members and being open at its upper and lowerends to permit of removal of earth upwardly from beneath the lower end,

a separately formed partition extending Ver- A tically within thecaisson dividing the interior of the caisson into a plurality ofseparate channels extending vertically of the caisson open at theirupper and lower ends, each of said channels being of such a size thatwhen compressed air is admitted into the material to be discharged fromthe bottom of the channel said material will be discharged upwardly outof the upper end of the channel -by the action of the compressed air,and retaining means for said partition of a character to permit removalof said partition from the caisson.

17. The herein described method of sinking into the earth a hollowtubular member, which method consists in applying force against thelower end portion of the tubular member interiorly thereof tending todraw the tubular member downwardly into the earth, and at the,same timeoperating a vibrating device against the wall of said tubular member ata locality' above the lower end portion thereof to thereby producevibration of said walls so as to reduce skin friction between the outersurface of said wall and the surrounding earth.

18. The herein described method of sinking into the earth a hollowtubular member, which method consists in applying force against thetubular member tendingto force the tubular member downwardly into theearth, and at the same time operating a vibrating device against thewall of said tubu- MAURICE BLUMEN THAL.

